I love you, Bondi!

Bondi is arguably Sydney’s nicest suburb, sitting on the cliffs and hills between the Pacific Ocean and the iconic beach itself, and Sydney’s downtown business district. It is the most expensive place on this side of the Earth in the Southern Hemisphere, the birth place of all our three children and is also what we’ve been calling home for a long time now.

Other than Bondi, I doubt there’s any other places in the world with a similar eclectic mix of breath-taking natural beauty, flabbergasting cultural diversity and aliveness which simply goes beyond words. No other place leasurly can compete with almost all of the pristine beaches and places we’ve seen sailing over the past few years.

Last night I went for another beautiful sun-set walk with my daughter and from the moment we both burst out laughing at the sight of six camels marching up and down Bondi Beach I couldn’t stop feeling a prickling shower of gratitude for calling this crazy place home. In fact, this is the first time in my nomadic life I call a place ‘home’ (as opposed to a state of mind) and, despite all odds, this doesn’t freak me out anymore. Instead of linking this to ties and captivity, I now feel it is the safety anchor which will always be there for us when everything else won’t.

Dear Bondi, only here can you see the old Rastafari and the young and sleek entrepreneur walking hand in hand along the promenade; regularly hear more than 20 different languages during a mere two hour coastal walk; watch all the oldies leading the way in swimming all year round – even in the more than refreshing water during the winter months; observe the world from the world’s most scenic sauna at Icebergs; watch the sexiest red trunks you’ve ever seen; giggle at the seriousness only Bondi-outdoor-gymsies could ever bring to an array of iron bars; NEVER get tired of the stunning sunrises and sunsets cross your cliffs; enjoy the best impromptu Sunday evening picnics with friends you’ve just bumped into in the surf; see dolphins in your backyard beach and wales from the next-door golf-course… only here am I not afraid to feel home.

Of course you also need to have camels in winter, plus an ice-ring in a region where ice and snow is unheard off. You also can’t escape the capitalist grip of some of those trying to turn you into just another build-up Venice Beach. You are not immune to some ignorants and drunkards making their wee-round too close to the playground, nor to the arrogant poshies and foreign billionaires who’ve pushed property prices up beyond belief. An expresso here buys a family meal elsewhere. You push out more celebrity chefs, vets, princesses and you name it than probably any other place in the world. You grow yoga teachers like bad weeds. But still, I forgive you ’cause you are much more than that to me. Much more, and yet so little, a mere four words I will always come back to: H-O-M-E.

Another beautiful interview, this time with the amazing Shevonne Hunt from Kinderling Radio in Sydney. She’s found her passion and when it comes to her interviews and podcasts, you know Shevonne’s found her Dharma, her path in life, as not only her eyes, but every cell of her body sparkles. Encounters like that make me happy. Thanks Shevonne and everyone else, enjoy the short and sweet 10 minute interview.

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It feels like a long time ago, and at the same time like yesterday. Before baby #3 pops out, closing a chapter, I had to put together our last sailing video from the three years we spent in the Mediterranean. Looking at it, it sometimes feels like the last summer before my life started falling apart… and here we are, slowly putting the pieces together again, trying to make sense of that big jig-saw puzzle that is life – to embrace whatever, whenever and wherever adventures the future has on hold for us. Namaste and love from Sydney.

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Wrapping up a tough but rewarding week of boatyard work, with Happy Dancer back in the water we’ve started to turn out attention Westwards. It’ll be going that way for a looong time (How many miles to Australia?) and after Greece, we’ll stop over in Malta again for a few days to provision big times on all the good stuff from tons of nori and nato, over pools full of coconut juice, plus the other bits and odds like lucuma powder, chia seeds and, of course, veggie mite.

With another crossing soon ahead, what a better time to have a glance back at our five days leaving Malta for Greece and Turkey. Enjoy the video of five days aboard with kids and no wind.

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It’s been exactly one month since we left our winter home of seven months in Malta’s Msida Creek. And what a month it’s been – following an amazing and productive winter. While mum and dad were topping up the kitty, healing Happy Dancer‘s little age-related wounds and connecting with the local yoga community, the kids had fun. LOTS of fun as this little video shows. Enjoy and remember – we always love to hear from readers!

Last weekend we received our official Welcome Ceremony at the Narara Eco Village, an hour north of Sydney. A long time has passed since I have written regularly, partially due to more time spend turning inwards, partially due to lots of yoga teaching, retreats and workshops which – together with the homeschooling of my three, a sailing boat to loath and love, freelance writing commitment and, yes, believe it or not, time to meditate and dance – left my blogging tank empty.

Right now, however, I’m feeling a new wave of sharing enthusiasm as the sangha, my community, whether in yoga, at the Village, amongst fellow sailors and far out into this world with you, is after all something that gives me energy and joy. As such, let me share the beautiful poem we were welcomed with at Narara as we walked through the welcoming spiral. I hope it makes your heart beat faster, just like it did with mine.

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Re-reading several of the old Yoga scriptures has been the literacy guideline for my year so far. As such I am ploughing through Desikachar’s Heart of Yoga and although I’d love to quote almost all, this is one every part of me resonates with:

We can never experience our real nature if we do not expose ourselves to change. That is why we must test ourselves sometimes by doing something completely different.

Have you done anything different yet this year? or are planning something which you’ve never done before?

#welovecomments

Few spots left for our Bali Yoga Retreat this April: https://sailingyogafamily.com/yoga/yoga-retreats-2/blissful-bali-yoga-retreat-april2017/

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A friend sent me a scientific article this morning which seemed to prove how optimistic feelings and moods influence positively on the body’s physcial health and well-being. More specifically, the feeling of being in awe was linked to reducing inflammation in the body.

It’s interesting how science more and more proves what is pretty obvious when you live ‘in tune’. Sailors would know that despite the challenges of living among the most hostile environments, there’s not much to beat sunrises at Sea. Parents would know there’s not much that beats that first little smile or gaze of a newborn. Anyone, who embraces live to the fullest would know, that being in awe can be a daily, casual thing which enhances our health and well-being on so many levels. So turn off your device (I’d say it’s pretty unlikely to find that feeling through a screen…) and look around you. Notice something to be in awe of?

With love, lightness and gratitude. Dini

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Receiving mail is sort of an issue when cruising. Urgent stuff like new boat bits we get sent to the next reliable place we stop and where we have some contacts – either a reliable marina, friends or something similar. The little of the regular mail which couldn’t be turned electronic gets sent to my granny who just called me super excitedly. This is how I found out I’m on the cover picture of the the current Compass’ Cover Page: The Moody Owner’s Association (fantastic club – couldn’t praise them enough and so glad to be part of it!) quarterly magazine. The little joys and surprises of life as you sit in a Crete Cafe and put together info for your next Yoga Retreat on Tenerife in the Canary Islands in November😉

Blog Stats

Travelling yogini. Free spirit. Skipper of Happy Dancer. Mother of three angels. Ayurvedic practitioner. Yin and vinyasa yoga teacher. Acro yoga lover. Experienced doula. Sustainability dudess. Lunatic dancer. Tarot card reader. Passionate writer... I love sharing big and small steps of our journey: Living the dream.
When we are not sailing the world on Happy Dancer, we stop to teach yoga, connect with local communities, dive right into a place, its peoples and cultures and bring joy and encouragement for others to live their dreams.
Believing in the power of one's dreams is what drives me, and having the power to bring dreams alive is what keeps me going. Enjoy the ride and please do get in touch to share your dreams. We love likes, comments and emails - or radio us on VHF, dance with us at a festival or join one of my yoga retreats!